Printing Innovation Asia Issue 4 2020
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Water-Based Flexo Ink for HighResolution Printing on Flexible Packaging CreationExpanded use of environment-friendly waterbased flexo inks in the area of food packaging The market for packaging inks today is dominated by solvent-based products, which boast outstanding wettability on plastic film substrates and dry swiftly after printing. Nonetheless, demand for water-based, UV-curable and other environment-friendly alternatives is rising sharply, underpinned by the need to address key social imperatives, including the lowering of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which pollute the air and impact working environments; the curbing of global CO2 emissions; and the reduction of energy consumed in printing. While printing on packaging films centers on gravure printing, an intaglio printing process, and flexographic printing, a type of letterpress printing, the latter is leading the global shift toward water-based inks. The principal reason for this is that flexographic printing uses less ink than gravure printing, meaning that even when water-based inks—which dry more slowly than solvent-based inks—are used, drying requires little energy, facilitating superior productivity, i.e., high-speed printing. However, the small volume of ink used makes high-density, high-precision printing difficult, as a result of which flexographic printing has traditionally been seen as inferior to gravure printing, spurring demand for improvements. Against this backdrop, in fiscal year 2015 DIC and DIC Graphics created a
project team to develop a water-based flexo ink for use on flexible packaging for food products, cosmetics and other items, which is made primarily with plastic film. Leveraging its proprietary mixing and dispersion technologies, DIC succeeded in developing an innovative ink that achieves a high optical density, lifting print quality to a level similar to that obtained with gravure printing. The Company also revamped the resin binder, beginning with its structure, to prevent the ink’s high density from weakening adhesion during lamination and to increase the resolubility of ink remaining on the printing plate following transfer to the print substrate, thereby ensuring the stability of print quality. The new ink, Marine Flex LM, which was announced at a trade show in October 2016,
upended many preconceived notions of flexo inks. ResponseSecuring the adoption of a new water-based flexo ink on the label for Suntory Tennensui An innovative, environment-friendly offering, Marine Flex LM facilitated the DIC Group’s entry into the market for packaging inks. However, sales volume fell short of expectations. One reason for this is the steep capital investment necessary for customers to switch from gravure printing to flexographic printing, as a result of which it is expected to take some time before the level of adoption in Japan catches up to that in Europe and the Americas.
Material printed using Marine Flexo LM
